Charleston is an unincorporated community in Delta County, Texas, United States.[1] According to the Handbook of Texas, its population was estimated at 120 in 2000.
Charleston, Texas | |
|---|---|
  Charleston  Charleston | |
| Coordinates: 33°23′11″N 95°32′2″W / 33.38639°N 95.53389°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Delta |
| Elevation | 440 ft (130 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Area code(s) | 903 & 430 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1354322[1] |
History
editBefore Delta County was established in 1870, the region—which had previously been a part of the D. A. Sey Survey—was a part of Hopkins County. Traveling from Charleston, South Carolina, settlers named the location after it in 1854. The abundance of oak and elm trees in the area was utilized by the locals, and hardwood logging emerged as the first local industry. The settlement saw the opening of a post office in 1857 when Zachariah R. Terrell served as the postmaster. Locals formed the first Texas Brigade in 1861 and decided to fight for the Confederacy during the Civil War. A large portion of Charleston's economy was drawn to the new shipping hub that was created in 1870 with the creation of Delta County and Cooper, the county seat. There were three cotton gins, multiple stores, two wagonmaking businesses, a church, a sawmill, a gristmill, and a flour mill in Charleston in 1884, along with 250 individuals. Mail was delivered from Paris three times a week in 1890. Two years later, Charleston had grown to 400 residents and had established a new municipal administration in addition to a weekly newspaper called the News. The town had 183 residents in 1904. A 500-pound meteorite that fell to Earth on May 19, 1910, in Charleston, during Halley's Comet's passage, caused some publicity for the area. Charleston listed 225 residents, a church, a cemetery, and five or six businesses, including a factory, in the 1920s and 1930s. The settlement had 150 residents by 1950. There were two churches, a cemetery, and several homes in Charleston according to a 1964 county highway map. In 1972, the Charleston Post Office closed. Locals in the vicinity constructed the Charleston Community Center around 1976. The community had 120 residents in 2000.[2]
Geography
editCharleston is located on Farm to Market Road 895, 9 mi (14 km) east of Cooper in southeastern Delta County. Evans Branch and McGuyer Branch border it to the east and west, respectively.[2]
Education
editIn 1867, the Charleston school district was established. The community subsequently had a school in 1884 and throughout the 1920s and 1930s. A. J. Street ran a teacher training school in the settlement from 1892 to 1897. The local school was combined with the districts of Vasco, Cleveland, and Long Ridge in 1930. It was then located in East Delta Number 2 District a decade later. Local kids were enrolled in the Cooper Independent School District by 1970.[2]